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**Quick link to register interest in the Raising & Rising leadership retreat for mothers in senior roles – CPO’s and HR professionals please leave your details if interested for your people.**

Hello Bright Minds this episode is an unexpected and delightful turn of events off the back of seeing my mate Katy Fridman for coffee a couple of weeks ago. We’d been talking about the state of the employment market for senior professionals who want to work less than full time.

Katy is the Founder of Flexible Working People, a career platform helping professionals build part-time and flexible careers. She’s grown a community of more than 100,000 professionals and talks to hiring managers and internal recruiters every day of the week.

Katy was about to pilot a four-day sprint for senior professionals who want to land flexible roles and we put a post on LinkedIn and asked if people wanted us to do an episode. The answer was a resounding YES and as well as many public comments I had people DM to tell me about their experiences.

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• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Jessica's FREE fortnightly note, Pivotal.
• Watch our coaching Success Stories.
• Take our new FREE Career Fuel diagnostic - and get a personalised free report.
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Contact us about executive coaching.

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Hello Bright Minds, you’re about to eavesdrop on a coaching conversation with a woman who wants to do big things in the world of philanthropy. She has a bold ambition to work with Melinda Gates and create a movement that leads to many, many more big female philanthropists around the globe. Female financial empowerment is her driving force and I gave her my ear to help her think about how she moves from where she is now to where she wants to be. She works as a senior fundraiser in the UK and USA and is a mother of two girls age 4 and 19 months.

If you are a mother in a senior role who is looking to go further in your career you might like to be part of the second Raising & Rising one day career leadership retreat in London on Monday 12th October. It’s a space for ambitious women to think deeply about their next career step and formulate plans to achieve it alongside being the parent you want to be. It’s designed and hosted by me and my colleague parenting coach and author Anita Cleare. We’re both seasoned coaching professionals working with senior women in corporate roles for over 20 years and the first cohort was made up of women who’s employers had sponsored their places.

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• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Jessica's FREE fortnightly note, Pivotal.
• Watch our coaching Success Stories.
• Take our new FREE Career Fuel diagnostic - and get a personalised free report.
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Contact us about executive coaching.

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My guest today is Donna Nichol, from Chloe James Lifestyle who started her career in fashion buying and gave into her urge to open an independent store of her own 16 years in the place I call home: St Albans.

Earlier this year Donna took a month out of her business to go travelling with her husband and when I saw her photos on Instagram and just how happy the break had made her I thought I need to get her on the podcast to show other business leaders whether in corporate life or running small businesses that they can do this too.

I wholeheartedly believe – and research bears it out – that top performers know how to rest and sometimes an extended period of rest or change of scene such as a sabbatical or extra long holiday is exactly what we need to stay fresh and energised about leading in business.

RESOURCES & REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Raising & Rising Leadership Career Retreat for Mothers.
• Chloe James (Donna's business)
• Chloe James instagram
• Jessica's e-mail: jc@talentkeepers.co.uk

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Jessica's FREE fortnightly note, Pivotal.
• Watch our coaching Success Stories.
• Take our new FREE Career Fuel diagnostic - and get a personalised free report.
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Contact us about executive coaching.

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Hello Bright Minds, this episode is for anyone who's just come second in a recruitment process for a job really wanted.

LINKS REFERENCES IN EPISODE

• Executive coaching for 'overlooked professionals'.
• Raising & Rising register of interest.
• Raising & Rising career retreat (for mothers in senior roles).
• Comeback Community employee experience.

I’m Jessica Chivers, a chartered coaching psychologist, author of “Mothers Work!” and executive coach who is on a mission to get more women into top jobs. I’m so pleased you’re here and listening to this JESSICA episode of COMEBACK COACH. These episodes are where I get into the psychology of something I think could be of value to the Bright Minds I coach in service of fuelling their careers.

If you’re looking for help returning to work after a break then please dig into to the massive library of COMEBACK episodes where you’ll find oodles of practical inspiration in the stories of my guests. You can also DM me your Qs on Instagram using the handle @comebackcommuk and if you are a Head of L&D, Head of Talent or Chief People Officer seeking coaching for returning employees take a look at our website www.talentkeepers.co.uk for how the Comeback Community employee experience programme drives engagement and supports line managers to have the right conversations with their team member who’s taking leave. Also on the website you’ll find our approach to executive coaching for leaders at five pivotal moments including promotion and when preparing for Partnership.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Jessica's FREE fortnightly note, Pivotal.
• Watch our coaching Success Stories.
• Take our new FREE Career Fuel diagnostic - and get a personalised free report.
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Contact us about executive coaching.

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Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Helen Rickards, who last year was made redundant from the German insurer Allianz after 25 years. It was traumatic. She’s now back in role at Lloyd’s of London and she’s loving it. You are about to eavesdrop on a wonderfully uplifting tale of how Helen got back to work. We talk about networking, the nuts and bolts of making LinkedIn work, what it’s like to be suddenly without structure and purpose, how the perimenopause affects self-worth and the moment she knew she wanted to work for her new CEO.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Jessica's FREE fortnightly note, Pivotal.
• Watch our coaching Success Stories.
• Take our new FREE Career Fuel diagnostic - and get a personalised free report.
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Contact us about executive coaching.

Ask me a Q

Hello Bright Minds, this episode is for anyone who is currently grappling with a drop in motivation at work or a loss of drive to push forward in your career after a break from work – a break that has shifted your identity in some way. I want to let you know that it’s normal. And that your drive is still there. It’s just staying quiet for a while – and that accepting it will take time for that mojo to resurface is the kindest thing you can do for yourself.

I’m Jessica Chivers, a chartered coaching psychologist, author of “Mothers Work!” and executive coach who is on a mission to get more mothers into top jobs. I’m so pleased you’re here and listening to this JESSICA episode of COMEBACK COACH. These solo episodes are where I get into the psychology of something I think could be of value to the Bright Minds I coach and they’re in service of fuelling their careers.

If listening sparks a question or you’d like to say hello and tell me how the episode has moved you, you can DM me on Instagram using the handle @comebackcommuk or e-mail jc@talentkeepers.co.uk.

Resources flagged in the episode:

• My book, Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work (Hay House, 2011).
• How to settle quickly when promoted into a new peer group: https://www.talentkeepers.co.uk/newpeergroup/
• Strengths Profile that we use with coachees returning to work from a break: https://www.strengthsprofile.com/
• Comeback Community employee experience programme: https://www.talentkeepers.co.uk/comeback-community/
• Log-in to Comeback Community for our coachees: https://comebackcommunity.co.uk/
• Executive coaching for pivotal career moments: https://www.talentkeepers.co.uk/executive-coaching/

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Jessica's FREE fortnightly note, Pivotal.
• Watch our coaching Success Stories.
• Take our new FREE Career Fuel diagnostic - and get a personalised free report.
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Contact us about executive coaching.

Ask me a Q

Hello Bright Minds, my chat with Suzy was deeply engaging for me as a fellow psychologist – and therapeutic at times - and I think it’s a great big, warm, virtual hug for anyone who is wrung out from taking care of children, partners, direct reports and all the other people who you give to in your life.

We talk about themes connected to Suzy’s latest book, How to be selfish, which is about vocalising your needs and your wishes and tending to yourself. You can get more of Suzy on Instagram @suzyreading.

I hope you take some learning from it.

• Register interest in joining the next Raising & Rising career leadership retreat for mothers in senior roles.
• Free Career Fuel diagnostic tool and report.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Jessica's FREE fortnightly note, Pivotal.
• Watch our coaching Success Stories.
• Take our new FREE Career Fuel diagnostic - and get a personalised free report.
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Contact us about executive coaching.

Ask me a Q

Hello Bright Minds, this is an episode written from the heart on my 47th birthday about audacity being a behavioural muscle we can develop in service of fuelling our careers and getting more women into top jobs. I'm Jessica Chivers, a chartered coaching psychologist, executive coach and author of "Mothers Work!"

** TELL ME ABOUT YOUR AUDACIOUS ACTS & ASKS AT WORK - link to Google form or copy and paste: https://forms.gle/aUjrEiTAxbQtHzzm6 **

• Register interest in joining the next Raising & Rising career leadership retreat for mothers in senior roles.
• LinkedIn State of Women in Leadership report 2026
• The Village by Stylist.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Jessica's FREE fortnightly note, Pivotal.
• Watch our coaching Success Stories.
• Take our new FREE Career Fuel diagnostic - and get a personalised free report.
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Contact us about executive coaching.